Grandpa's Second Try - Come Join Us!

Eyes4grandpa said:
I have had zero experience with these types of soils as well... Obviously. However, it seems to me that run off, even just a little bit to get a pH reading, would be beneficial. That way I know the soil is truly balanced. Not to mention the PPMs in and out.
With that in mind and what you advise, which agrees with many others opinions, I think will kill both birds with one stone, and Water to run off so we can keep track of those numbers. Of course, this is always open to adjustment... LOL
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If this is a water only soil, don't do runoff. If the soil is good you don't need to worry about the pH coming out. The micro organisms will do all the work for you. If you aren't using nutes, you don't need to worry about runoff pH at all. I have NEVER even checked mine, in either KindSoil or my homemade Stank Soil. If you go to runoff, you run the risk of washing away the good guys that you need in your soil to give the plants what they need. The only time I would ever really endorse a going to runoff or flush is if your soil is 2nd or 3rd run and there is a risk of any sort of buildup in your soil. You would want to essentially flush it and then hit with a recharge of the good guys. First run, you don't want to do it.
 
Eyes4grandpa said:
now for the Daily Report..
Temp = 84°
rH = 37%

I'm told that it looks like her leaves maybe getting a little lighter green in color. I'm sure she would like a drink, but I would rather hold off until transplant. That will be tomorrow or possibly Monday. Good idea or should we give her some water? I'm also wondering if the humidity being that low is possibly beginning to have some effect. With Kelly's thyroiditis and hypothyroidism, she has very limited time to feel well enough to take care of these things, and we have to take advantage where we can in between the other things she has to do. It will get done, regardless. This is way too important for our health. Grrrr...frustrating I can't do this and relieve her from having to...
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That humidity isn't going to adversely effect your grow Gramps unless its just shitty genetics. Its not as high as you would like but again, I ran a veg cycle in the dead of winter in New England with RH between 16-26%. Just slows the growth down a bit. You can spray the leaves with water a few times a day to assist a little, just make sure your lights are back far enough that it won't burn em.
 
Van Stank said:
If this is a water only soil, don't do runoff. If the soil is good you don't need to worry about the pH coming out. The micro organisms will do all the work for you. If you aren't using nutes, you don't need to worry about runoff pH at all. I have NEVER even checked mine, in either KindSoil or my homemade Stank Soil. If you go to runoff, you run the risk of washing away the good guys that you need in your soil to give the plants what they need. The only time I would ever really endorse a going to runoff or flush is if your soil is 2nd or 3rd run and there is a risk of any sort of buildup in your soil. You would want to essentially flush it and then hit with a recharge of the good guys. First run, you don't want to do it.
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So... No run off at all. Then I guess I'll have to just make sure the water gets to the bottom of the fabric pot. I guess with this type of soil, that makes sense. The other way, seems to make sense to because from what I've heard and read it takes out the salts that are produced by the plant itself. I am assuming that you mean that these salts are taken care of in the soil itself?
 
Van Stank said:
That humidity isn't going to adversely effect your grow Gramps unless its just shitty genetics. Its not as high as you would like but again, I ran a veg cycle in the dead of winter in New England with RH between 16-26%. Just slows the growth down a bit. You can spray the leaves with water a few times a day to assist a little, just make sure your lights are back far enough that it won't burn em.
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Fair enough, VS. I'll try not to stress too heavily. I would like it to be within recommended ranges, but if you say from experience that it doesn't matter that much, I'll run with that. Thank you, my friend. 😁
 
Eyes4grandpa said:
So... No run off at all. Then I guess I'll have to just make sure the water gets to the bottom of the fabric pot. I guess with this type of soil, that makes sense. The other way, seems to make sense to because from what I've heard and read it takes out the salts that are produced by the plant itself. I am assuming that you mean that these salts are taken care of in the soil itself?
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Here is a recommendation I can offer. When you get her into the fabric pot, give her a good watering...but do it slowly and keep track of how much water it takes to slowly water and get a little bit of water making it to the bottom of the pot (basically to where you get run off). For me I know if I am growing in my soil in 5 gallon fabric pot, I can water with about 1.2 gallons before I get to the point of run off. So I water with a gallon of water per watering (again less than what will take you to run off). Then I like to water about 25% of it from the bottom and the remaining 75% from the top. This ensures that I get all the root areas....top, middle and bottom.
 
goodmorning Gramps! It's my understanding that in a living soil, the nutrients are derived from materials that are composting/being eaten/expelled by the bacteria in the soil. I'm not sure if the nutrients that result by the natural decomposition would be considered salts, but the main goal is to just keep the soil ecosystem alive - as long as those beneficial bacteria exist & have material to feed on, your plant will be fed - No PH or secondary adjustments necessary.
 
Van Stank said:
Here is a recommendation I can offer. When you get her into the fabric pot, give her a good watering...but do it slowly and keep track of how much water it takes to slowly water and get a little bit of water making it to the bottom of the pot (basically to where you get run off). For me I know if I am growing in my soil in 5 gallon fabric pot, I can water with about 1.2 gallons before I get to the point of run off. So I water with a gallon of water per watering (again less than what will take you to run off). Then I like to water about 25% of it from the bottom and the remaining 75% from the top. This ensures that I get all the root areas....top, middle and bottom.
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Sounds like a solid method, especially since you guys recommended who are using these types of soils. So, I figure out how much it takes to get some run off, and then take 25% of it and put it in the tray itself, and let it leech in. The rest of the water gets poured in on top, slowly, until gone. Correct?.
 
hortishorti said:
goodmorning Gramps! It's my understanding that in a living soil, the nutrients are derived from materials that are composting/being eaten/expelled by the bacteria in the soil. I'm not sure if the nutrients that result by the natural decomposition would be considered salts, but the main goal is to just keep the soil ecosystem alive - as long as those beneficial bacteria exist & have material to feed on, your plant will be fed - No PH or secondary adjustments necessary.
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What great information, HS! You found a wonderfully simple and basic way to put it. Thank you very much for taking the time. Now, I understand much better the Dynamics of this kind of soil.
 
Eyes4grandpa said:
What great information, HS! You found a wonderfully simple and basic way to put it. Thank you very much for taking the time. Now, I understand much better the Dynamics of this kind of soil.
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That makes me happy Gramps! I really believe you're gonna knock it out of the park with this girl :) Super excited to see her take off after transplant
 
Temp = 84°
rH = 37%

I hate to have to report this, but Jane is turning brown already. Here is a pic of her yesterday about 24 hours after the last watering. Kelley says that she looks worse today. WTF?!?

10-22-17_Jane_Yellowing.jpg
 
Blazin Waffle said:
Looks like it's time to transplant!!!
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Thats probably what it is telling you Gramps. In those smaller containers, there is only so much nutrients. I would get her transplanted sooner than later.
 
Eyes4grandpa said:
Sounds like a solid method, especially since you guys recommended who are using these types of soils. So, I figure out how much it takes to get some run off, and then take 25% of it and put it in the tray itself, and let it leech in. The rest of the water gets poured in on top, slowly, until gone. Correct?.
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Yes. Exactly! That's what I was trying to recommend in my previous post :)

She looks better to me. Looks like there is substantial new growth :). I would still recommend trimming the cup down some since the leaves cannot stretch their wings. Even if you plant to transplant today or tomorrow (which I would also recommend). But I think once she is able to settle into a new home, she will really take off .
 
Grandpa this run is proof of all that you learned the first go around! Your doing great.

I dont know if this is a good tip or not. But for my soil plants I dont fill the starter pot all the way with soil .so I can peroidically add more fresh soil to the top before watering and then some new nutrients get washed down.
I feel like it preserves the soil health in those tiny containers. I could be wrong.

This is opinion. based on no facts.. maybe ask a vet before you take my advise lol.
 
Thank you all very much for clearing that up for us! I don't think that she can wait much longer.
Kelley cannot physically do much today, and probably tomorrow. So, I will make the attempt at transplant. She will go into a 3 gallon fabric pot, and I just want to be certain I have a good procedure that I am going to use.
I will fill the pot to within an inch of the top with new soil. Then, I will compact it down to about half way and do the same thing until we reach about an inch or an inch and a half from the top of the 3-gallon pot. I will then take the cup she is in and bury it in the new soil to get a footprint for her in the soil. I will then remove the cup and holding her between my fingers with the hand over the cup I will take her and the dirt out of the cup and place it in the whole made by the cup. I will then fill in the rest of the dirt to ensure there are no air pockets. I will then water her down until I get a little run off, and then I think it's done. One question... Should i pH the water before I water her?
 
Eyes4grandpa said:
Thank you all very much for clearing that up for us! I don't think that she can wait much longer.
Kelley cannot physically do much today, and probably tomorrow. So, I will make the attempt at transplant. She will go into a 3 gallon fabric pot, and I just want to be certain I have a good procedure that I am going to use.
I will fill the pot to within an inch of the top with new soil. Then, I will compact it down to about half way and do the same thing until we reach about an inch or an inch and a half from the top of the 3-gallon pot. I will then take the cup she is in and bury it in the new soil to get a footprint for her in the soil. I will then remove the cup and holding her between my fingers with the hand over the cup I will take her and the dirt out of the cup and place it in the whole made by the cup. I will then fill in the rest of the dirt to ensure there are no air pockets. I will then water her down until I get a little run off, and then I think it's done. One question... Should i pH the water before I water her?
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Yeah that will work. Just to clarify, on the run off....just water to where the water reaches the bottom of the pot. I assume you will have the fabric pot in a saucer of some sort, as soon as you have water getting down to the saucer and it isn't being sucked back up by the soil you will know the max capacity. Once again, keep watering slowly and track how much water you use. And when I say slowly, I mean slowly and give time for the water to seep into the soil. If you water too fast, it will drain to the bottom too fast without soaking everything at the top and in the middle. For my initial watering, it usually takes me about 10-15 minutes slowly doing one cup or small bottle at a time. For me....in my soil mix, I do about half a gallon in a 3 gallon pot. That should get you at a good starting point.
 
Van Stank said:
Yeah that will work. Just to clarify, on the run off....just water to where the water reaches the bottom of the pot. I assume you will have the fabric pot in a saucer of some sort, as soon as you have water getting down to the saucer and it isn't being sucked back up by the soil you will know the max capacity. Once again, keep watering slowly and track how much water you use. And when I say slowly, I mean slowly and give time for the water to seep into the soil. If you water too fast, it will drain to the bottom too fast without soaking everything at the top and in the middle. For my initial watering, it usually takes me about 10-15 minutes slowly doing one cup or small bottle at a time. For me....in my soil mix, I do about half a gallon in a 3 gallon pot. That should get you at a good starting point.
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All right, I think I've got it. It will be in a tray, and sitting on a little plastic platform with holes in the bottom of it. Should I not put it on the little platform, or use it? It's there to allow air flow to the bottom of the pot. I'm going to assume, and correct me if I'm wrong, that we will not use it until after watering, and then put it back on the platform after all water is sucked back into the pot from the 25% we will put in the tray.
Thanks for that bit of detail, VS. That is just the type of things I need. :thumb:
 
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